Page 222 of The Consequences of Love and Vengeance

DRAGO

Last night with my dick inside Bri, I fucked her until my body tired out, only allowing myself the needed release when I could no longer continue pumping inside her, when every muscle in me was spent.

It was everything, yet not enough. It’ll never be enough until I make her, the boy, and our unborn baby mine in every way. But I can’t do that, at least not yet, not until I eradicate the poison inside my current family.

I can’t allow myself to call them family too. Not when my father is in arms reach. Not when there’s even the slightest chance he could get his dirty hands on them and do things I don’t want to think about. I know what he’s capable of—most don’t have a fucking clue.

Sure, he’s ordered hits, killed innocent and not so innocent people. But what most don’t know about is the real dirty work, the bloody, gory messes he’s been responsible for weren’t at the hands of a hired man. They were all his. He loves the kill. He gets off on seeing a life drain out of a person.

He truly is evil, and someone I don’t want tainting and destroying what’s mine. Love outside of what I feel for Luca and Caprice, and even Mona, wasn’t supposed to happen. Bri and kids were never part of my plan. But now they are, and I refuse to walk away again. That leaves me only one choice—work harder to bring my father to justice.

One way or another.

I walk through the open bay doors of Acerbi Imports, and with the chilly January morning air no longer nipping at my face, I shed my sports coat, hanging it on the rack next to the staff time clock.

It’ll warm up to the high sixties within a couple of hours, and I’ll be sweating since the warehouse doesn’t have central heat and air. It’s usually not needed with LA year-round temperatures. We have big ass fans throughout, so when the heat is pounding down, my guys don’t get too hot with them blowing in the ocean breeze coming through the bay doors.

Turning, I scan the open space until my eyes halt, seeing Rebecca talking with one of the warehouse guys. The look on her made-up face tells me she’s frustrated. I find myself heading toward her and Ron instead of up the stairs to my office.

I actually enjoy running this business. It’s challenging, and there’s a balancing act of being the boss but also working the same as my guys do. I don’t sit in the office all day.

A good third of it is getting my hands dirty by putting in the same hands-on work my employees do. I unload and load shipments. I run the forklift on a daily basis during the week. I’m not just their boss, at least not in my eyes.

Being undercover, living my life as normal as possible, it has always been easy for me to forget what my end goal is supposed to be. This life was always supposed to be mine. I never had the desire to be a cop like Eric did. Before E and I became friends, law enforcement was something I not only looked down at but also despised. My father made sure at an early age I knew cops were something an Acerbi didn’t like or respect.

“I want all of those cases brought out,” she demands. “I need room to store the shipment that arrives this afternoon.”

“The heat will ruin the wine, Miss De Luca,” Ron fires back, the stress in his eyes deepening as he notices my close proximity.

“What’s going on?” I inquire. Rebecca’s eye roll doesn’t go unnoticed, and I arch an eyebrow making sure she knows it.

“Nothing that you should be concerned with Drago. I got this,” she assures me.

Cutting my eyes to Ron, I wait for an answer.

Since I’ve been in charge, the staff gets along. There is no drama, no arguments or riffs between employees fighting to stay on my father's good side. Half of the workers here today don’t even know or have ever experienced the wrath of Vincent Acerbi. And if I have anything to do with it, they never will.

“Miss De Luca has requested two of my guys be pulled to move the Lombardi order out of the cooler. That order doesn’t ship out until tomorrow morning. I’ve advised her that doing so today would ruin most, if not all the wine.”

My eyebrows pull together as I stare at Rebecca as if she’s lost her damn mind. Ron’s reaction and accusation to Rebecca’s asinine request is warranted, and Rebecca knows this, so what the fuck?

Her mouth opens, but only a huff of hot air comes out of it.

“You want to explain?” I ask.

“Not really.” She shakes her head. “But fine, whatever. Your father arranged the delivery. I only found out half an hour ago. I had to come up with a solution on the fly.”

“We don’t do shit ‘on the fly’ and letting me know that you do, is making me rethink your position here.”

It’s not like I need her or even want her here. She’s only here to begin with because my father hired her fresh out of college, and she only remains until my sister is ready to join the family business.

CC hasn’t come right out and told me that’s what she wants, but Luca has confided in me that is what Caprice wants and I have to say it makes me happy. Caprice and I have never talked about her career goals, but I worry that she doesn’t understand what she’d be getting into. I know acting is her passion, so why she would want something so mundane is unbeknown to me.

“Your father is back now, he’s returned home. He’s here actually, and I take orders from the boss.”

She crosses her arms, those deep blue eyes penetrating mine like she’s one-upped me, like she’s telling me something I don’t already know. With the recent upgrades I had Luca install, there isn’t anything or anyone that walks through the door that I don’t know about. There is no conversation that goes unrecorded.

She’s still angry with me for ditching her last month when Bri showed up at the bar I was drowning my sorrows in. Eric has been my best friend and the one person I could confide in, divulging all the shit I’ve watched my father do. He’s as close to a brother without being blood as a person can get. I knew even in my drunken state that he’s never had an interest in Bri, not the same way I do. But that didn’t stop the jealousy that ran rampant through my veins when he started to pull her away from me.

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